Chris Lerch

Chris Lerch has been writing for USCHO since 1999, first as D-III columnist, then covering Atlantic Hockey for the past 24 seasons.

NCAA Hockey Tournament Sioux Falls Regional Preview: Boston University, Minnesota, Omaha, Rochester Institute of Technology

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Sioux Falls Regional, March 28-30 Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, Sioux Falls, S.D. Thursday, March 28, 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU No. 1 Boston U. (26-9-2) vs. No. 4 Rochester Institute of Technology (27-10-2) Thursday, March 28, 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU No. 2 Minnesota (22-10-5) vs. No. 3 Omaha (23-12-4) Saturday, March 30, 6:30 p.m. … Read more

Gonsalves, Wilde each score twice as No. 18 RIT defeats AIC, wins Atlantic Hockey playoff title, secures automatic bid to NCAA tournament

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Elijah Gonsalves and Matthew Wilde each scored a pair of goals to lead Rochester Institute of Technology to a 5-2 victory over American International in the Atlantic Hockey championship game to claim the Jack Riley Trophy. RIT went wire to wire to capture the regular-season and playoff titles for its fourth playoff … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: NCAA tournament berth on line this weekend in Rochester as RIT hosts AIC for conference postseason title

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One game for all the marbles. The longest postseason in college hockey comes to an end on Saturday in Rochester, N.Y. After almost four weeks, the Atlantic Hockey tournament is down to the final two teams: American International and Rochester Institute of Technology. They will play a single game on Saturday in Rochester for the … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Conference quarterfinals in books, semifinals set for upcoming weekend with four teams left in chase for Riley Cup

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We are down to four teams still in contention to host the Riley Cup. Last weekend’s Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals had their share of drama despite all four series ending in sweeps – two for the home teams, two for the underdogs. – Rochester Institute of Technology swept Robert Morris, winning 7-0 and 5-1. The first … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Dealing with injuries, AIC moving forward, ‘ready to take this reinvented version of AIC hockey into the playoffs’

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For the past several weeks, it’s been a “next man up” mentality for American International, which has seen a crippling rash of injuries over the final month of the regular season. Key players including Alfred Lindberg (22 points), Brian Kramer (20 points), Alexander Malinowski (20 points), and John Lundy (19 points) all suffered what are … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: First round of conference playoffs kick off in earnest this weekend with trio of games

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When the dust settled on the 2023-24 Atlantic Hockey regular season, just one tiebreaker was necessary in determining the final standings/seedings. The result: 1. Rochester Institute of Technology 2. Holy Cross 3. Sacred Heart 4. Air Force 5. American International 6. Bentley 7. Niagara 8. Canisius 9. Mercyhurst 10. Army West Point 11. Robert Morris … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Looking at which teams are contenders, which teams are pretenders with conference playoffs upcoming

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Another season, another playoff format for Atlantic Hockey. Gone is last year’s model which saw only the top eight teams qualify. Now that we’re back to 11 teams, everyone makes it, but the road for seeds six through 11 gets a little trickier. The format is as follows: First Round, March 2 Single elimination No. … Read more

Monday 10: Colorado College takes both from North Dakota, Holy Cross coming alive in Atlantic Hockey, Quinnipiac close to ECAC Hockey regular-season crown

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Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. Colorado College sweeps North Dakota in convincing fashion Earlier this season, the Tigers snapped a 15-game losing streak to the Fighting Hawks with a pair of 3-2 overtime victories in Grand Forks. The rematch in Colorado … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Mercyhurst hoping last weekend’s win over first-place RIT starts to get Lakers out of ‘a heck of a rut’

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On Jan. 5, Mercyhurst defeated Sacred Heart 7-2, a convincing way to start the 2024 portion of the Lakers’ schedule. Rick Gotkins’ team was 7-9-3 at the time, in the thick of things in the Atlantic Hockey standings. Then the Lakers experienced what Gotkin called a “rut.” It lasted nine games (0-9), finally coming to … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Improving Robert Morris squad learning, finding ways ‘to understand what to do to be successful’

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With three weeks to go in the Atlantic Hockey regular season, things are looking up for Robert Morris. Derek Schooley had to build his team back from practically scratch after the school unceremoniously canceled its successful men’s and women’s programs at the end of the 2020-21 season. Schooley brought in 16 freshmen plus a few … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Holy Cross utilizing veteran players, stellar netminding as backbone to recent winning streak, renewed optimism

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Last season, its second under coach Bill Riga, Holy Cross built towards a strong finish that ultimately led to an appearance in the Atlantic Hockey championship game where the Crusaders fell to Canisius, one win away from the NCAA tournament. This season, the Crusaders wouldn’t be sneaking up on anyone, opening 4-0-1 before hitting a … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Canisius’ Giampa scoring at point-per-game clip as freshman wants to ‘focus on getting better day after day’

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There’s typically an adjustment period for rookies in college hockey. Despite being a top contributor on their junior team, newbies often struggle with the speed of the college game and going up against older, more experienced players. But Canisius freshman Matteo Giampa picked up where he left off in juniors. The Virgil, Ont., native scored … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Niagara hoping recent victory over RIT springboards Purple Eagles to more notches in win column

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The 2023-24 season has been one of streaks for Niagara. Going into last week’s game against Rochester Institute of Technology, Jason Lammers’ team had a single win in its previous seven games. Just before that, Niagara had won four of five. Lammers is hoping that a 3-1 win over then-No. 18 RIT is the start … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Ten-goal outburst at Bentley has Air Force making move up conference standings with AIC series on tap

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Sometimes in life, and in hockey, you can do everything right and still lose. Air Force, coming off a last-place finish last season, had an improved start to 2023-24, but ran into a scoring slump to close out the first semester on a 1-5-1 stretch that saw the Falcons score a total of eight goals. … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Looking back on first half, looking forward to second half, including new playoff format

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I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. As we head into the second half of the college hockey season, which Atlantic Hockey players have excelled so far? Here are our midterm awards. Will things change before the league names the actual winners in March? Probably. But these are our picks for the … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: What each team is hoping Santa leaves under their Christmas tree this holiday season

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This is my final column before the holidays, so in the spirit of the season, let’s take a look at what each team could ask Santa for this Christmas. Air Force: Some WD-40 The Falcons will need to shake off some rust before diving into what should be a challenging tournament after Christmas. Air Force … Read more

Monday 10: Top-ranked North Dakota swept at home by Colorado College, Wisconsin on roll, RIT back atop Atlantic Hockey

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Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. Down goes No. 1 …twice On Friday, Colorado College upset No. 1 North Dakota 3-2 in overtime. On Saturday, the Tigers did it again. Another 3-2 overtime victory over the Flying Hawks, both in Grand Forks. … Read more